certain routinasion--routinization sets in, and you begin to go through the motions, and you lose your energy and your inspiration, and the new faces blur with the old faces. there's something to be said for a professor retiring after 20 years. c-span: what made leo strauss such a favorite of everyone? >> guest: because he cared passionately about his ideas, and he conveyed that passion to his students. he didn't have that many students, but the passion for ideas caused his students, in turn, to really engage in the passionate study of ideas, and they, in turn, encouraged their students to engage in the passionate study of ideas. so in that sense, he was a very great teacher. c-span: of all the 41 essays and the 39-page introduction that you said is the most important part of this, which other essays are you--do you think are the most important in here, the one that captures the essence of what you think? any one in particular? >> guest: you want me to look at the table of contents? c-span: well, we're about running out of time. you know, you have the--the--the section on history and capitali